Summary

We're going to wrap up our live blog coverage for the day. Here's a summary of where things stand:

•A Ukrainian military incursion in the east produced multiple strained confrontations but few reports of bloodshed Wednesday as crowds of defiant locals and militia members intercepted military convoys.

• Pro-Russian forces seized armored personnel carriers from one convoy, captured dozens of Ukrainian troops, took them to the city of Slavyansk, and packed many of the troops onto buses. The troops said they were on the way back to base.

•It was a demoralizing day for the Ukrainian military that underscored a vacuum in leadership in Kiev, Alec Luhn reported.

• "Our anti-terror operation won't include fatalities among civilians," an adviser to the acting Ukrainian interior minister was quoted as saying.

• Diplomatic talks were scheduled for Geneva for Thursday, to include envoys from Ukraine, Russia, the US and EU. US officials sought to downplay expectations for the talks.

•Nato on Wednesday announced "further military measures to enhance our collective defense," including more surveillance sorties over the Baltic region and the deployment of ships "to the Baltic sea, the eastern Mediterranean and elsewhere."

• An interactive, city-by-city map of the clashes and of sites where pro-Russian forces had taken government buildings is here.

• Ukrainian troops and opposition crowds sat for hours in a standoff in the town of Pchyolkino south of Kramatorsk. Some of the troops took their weapons apart but they refused to turn the weapons or vehicles over.

• A crowd lay siege to a military outpost in the city of Mariupol late Wednesday. Local news outlets reported a violent clash with injuries, but the details were not confirmed.

• Armed militia members took over a city council building in the city of Donetsk and leaders of the so-called "People's Donetsk Republic" held a news conference. Donetsk was also the scene Wednesday of an emergency meeting of the Party of Regions to support Ukrainian unity.

There are multiplelocal reports (including video) of a clash in the southern port city of Mariupol, where a crowd of people lay siege to a Ukrainian military post and met strong resistance. The situation appears to have calmed, according to the reports, some of which mention casualties, at present unconfirmed by the Guardian.

It was a demoralizing day for the Ukrainian military, with their transportation seized out from under them, with some forced to board a bus and others forced to dismantle their weapons, all under the public gaze. Alec Luhn (@ASLuhn) reports on what went wrong:

The confusion among Ukrainian toops reflect the lack of a plan by their leadership in Kiev, said Alexei Melnik, a defence analyst at the Razumkov centre. He said commanders should not have moved the fighting vehicles into these towns, where they were predictably mobbed by angry residents.

"There was a certain moment when we could speak about high morale among the troops because there was a common enemy, but the indecision and lack of guidance from the top is demoralising our armed forces," Melnik said. "The message that we are in a state of war should be repeated constantly."

The inaction and defections may reflect deeper problems within the Ukrainian military, including shortages of battle-ready fighters and equipment. Authorities have hastily tried to create a national guard in the past month and been forced to seek donations from businesses.

Ihor Kolomoisky, appointed Dnepropetrovsk governor, spent "several million dollars" on batteries for military vehicles and equipment last month. Only 6,000 of the country's 41,000 land troops were ready for combat, the defence minister had told parliament in March.

Melnik said: "For many years the Ukrainian army has not received enough money for equipment or training." The military leadership should have been sacked after the loss of Crimea, he said.

Summary

• As night fell, a standoff at Pchyolkino continuedbetween Ukrainian troops and crowds of locals – joined now by "green men" militia members. The crowd had blocked the troops' passage. The troops were refusing to give up their weapons or vehicles.

• The standoff followed a similar confrontation Wednesday morning in which pro-Russian forces seized Ukrainian personnel carriers and drove them to Slavyansk, where Ukrainian troops were held for hours before being bussed back to their base.

• Despite a series of confrontations between the sides throughout the day, there were no confirmed reports of shots fired or bloodshed as of Wednesday evening (although there were unconfirmed, unassociated reports in Ukrainian and Russian news outlets).

• Kiev, Moscow, Washington and Europe traded accusations of unjustified aggression as the four sides prepared to meet Thursday in Genevafor the first such talks since the start of the current crisis. The Russian foreign ministry warned Washington of "catastrophic consequences" for its "reckless support" of Kiev.

White House press secretary Jay Carney said it was appropriate for the Ukraine government to take action to restore law and order and urged it to continue to do so in a measured and responsible way, Reuters reports:

Carney told reporters traveling on Air Force One that Kiev had responded with "admirable restraint" to destabilizing actions by armed separatists in the country.

For Slavyansk residents for whom overflights by Ukrainian military aircraft seemed to signal the imminent arrival of Ukrainian ground troops, the arrival Wednesday of combat vehicles bearing pro-Russian militia members instead made for a moment of confusion. The Guardian's Luke Harding (@LukeHarding1968) reports:

"I heard the sound of tanks approaching. I thought that Ukrainian troops had arrived," Vladimir Ivanovich admitted, gazing at the APCs now stationed opposite a small park and children's playground. "I was wrong." So who exactly were the soldiers in masks? "I don't know," he said.

He added: "I'm not a radical or a separatist. I'm actually more on the left. I didn't much like Viktor Yanukovych. I'm for peaceful coexistence. The problem is that when the nationalists seized power in Kiev they didn't think about the consequences. I have my own prognosis about what will happen next. It's not comforting."

The armed men, meanwhile, made little secret of the fact they took orders from Moscow, Luke writes:

Many of them appeared to be Russian troops from Crimea. Asked where he had come from, one told the Guardian: "Simferopol." How were things in Crimea? "Zamechatelna," he said in Russian – splendid. He added: "The old ladies are happy. Because of Russia their pensions have doubled." Had he served in the Ukrainian army and perhaps swapped sides? "No, I'm Russian," he replied.

Interactive map

Here is an interactive, city-by-city map of the crisis in east Ukraine as of 16 April 2014. (View the full map package here.)

The map includes sites where government buildings have been seized and in some cases reclaimed, as well as sites of more recent confrontations between the Ukrainian military and local forces and under-identified militia groups.

The Telegraph's Roland Oliphant has a video dispatch from the scene of the Pchyolkino standoff. Unarmed locals stopped the Ukrainian military convoy. The troops, unwilling either to fire their weapons or give them up, sit stolidly. (Some have dismantled their rifles, however.) Ukrainian jets and helicopters fly overhead in a fruitless attempt to intimidate the locals.

It's important to note that the US State Department is frantically gathering any speculation spread by the acting powers in Kiev in order to justify charges against Russia about inciting and even organizing disorder in south-east Ukraine. [...]

But the important thing is not the distortion of facts, but the stubborn unwillingness or inability to see reality as it actually is, and in striving to impose on the rest of the world a distorted view of what's happening in south-east Ukraine. From briefing to briefing to justify the riots of the "heroes of Maidan" but to describe the protests in Donetsk, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Slavyansk and other cities as actions guided from outside terrorists – It's not simply a double standard, but blatant hypocrisy.

Now, as the ruling regime in Kiev has made an attempt to use force, the official [rhetoric of] the White House and State Department that this is a "maintenance of law and order", indicates nothing less than an endorsement for [Kiev's] war against their own people. Washington must recognize the catastrophic consequences of such reckless support for its Kiev charges."

In an emergency meeting, the Party of Regions – which disassociated itself with deposed president Viktor Yanukovych after his move to Russia – has drafted a resolution asking the "protesters in the east to put down weapons and evacuate government buildings," according to Ukrainian Channel 5 correspondent Myroslava Petsa.

Petsa also tweets remarks by Stanislav Rechinsky, adviser to acting interior minister Arsen Avakov. Rechinsky describes a government wish not to have "dead bodies" before the Geneva talks Thursday, Petsa reports:

The hesitancy – or unwillingness – of Ukrainian troops to use their weapons has produced multiple awkward confrontations with civilian crowds Wednesday, including one in Pchyolkino south of Kratamorsk, which seems still to be unresolved after an hours-long standoff. BuzzFeed's Max Seddon hears a Ukrainian commander call his superiors for guidance:

The United States is working on a package of non-lethal aid for Ukraine that could include medical supplies and clothing, but would stop short of providing body armor and other military-style equipment, U.S. officials said Wednesday. The AP reports:

The incremental assistance would be aimed both at bolstering the Ukrainian military as it seeks to halt the advances of pro-Russian forces in the east, as well as showing symbolic U.S. support for Ukraine's efforts. But the aid is unlikely to satisfy the Obama administration's critics, who say what the Ukrainians really need are weapons to defend themselves.

"We ought to at least, for God's sake, give them some light weapons with which to defend themselves," Sen. John McCain, a leading Republican, said over the weekend.

The administration has said it is considering aid requests from Ukraine, but is not actively considering sending weapons, ammunition or other lethal assistance. [...]

U.S. assistance to Ukraine's military has so far been limited to about 300,000 ready to eat meals, which were shipped in late March. The U.S. has also authorized a $1 billion loan guarantee for Ukraine's fledgling government.

The US has warned that further sanctions against Russia could be put in place quickly if tomorrow’s four-party talks in Geneva do not result in Moscow “de-escalating” the crisis in Ukraine, Guardian Washington correspondent Paul Lewis (@PaulLewis) reports:

Secretary of state John Kerry is arriving in Switzerland ahead of the meeting – the first between top diplomats from Russia, Ukraine, the US and EU since the crisis began in February. In addition to the four-way talks, Kerry will have bilateral meetings with each of the participants, including his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov.

Marie Harf, the state department’s deputy press secretary, said on Wednesday that at the “top of the list” of US demands would be that Russia halt what the US alleges are destabilising activities in eastern Ukraine. The US wants Russia to publicly call on separatists to disarm and stand down.

The US also wants Russia to pull its estimated 40,000 troops away from the Ukrainian border and withdraw from Crimea, the Ukrainian region Moscow has effectively annexed.

Asked about the likelihood of sanctions if the meeting does not yield the change in stance from Russia that Washington is pushing for, Harf replied: “Don’t expect any before tomorrow’s meetings. But if there are not steps taken by Russia to de-escalate, will will take additional steps, including additional sanctions.”

The presence of the infiltrators could not be independently confirmed. Kiev is keeping up a battle of accusations with Moscow. On Tuesday, Russian president Vladimir Putin's spokesman flatly said "there are no Russian forces whatsoever" in Ukraine.

Sorry, your browser is unable to play this video.

Ukraine's security service says its counter-intelligence department has found members of the Russian special services involved in unrest in eastern Ukraine. The head of the counter-intelligence department says discussions have been documented involving plans to kill up to 200 people after which Russian forces would invade Ukraine

A meeting of EU foreign ministers Monday fell far short of producing an agreement on new sanctions related to the crisis in the Ukraine, drawing ridicule from US senator John McCain.

But the EU is still trying on sanctions, Reuters reports:

The EU took a step towards imposing tougher economic sanctions on Russia by informing its member states of the likely impact of proposed measures on each of them. Countries have a week to respond before the European Commission starts drawing up plans for sanctions on energy, finance and trade.

To keep the sensitive material from leaking, each of the 28 member states was told only of the expected risks its own economy would face. The information was handed to each EU ambassador in a sealed brown envelope.

The Russian economy has slowed with the armed standoff in Ukraine, but Russian president Vladimir Putin continues to enjoy high popularity ratings, the AP reports:

In the first official estimate of the Ukrainian turmoil's impact on growth, Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev said Wednesday the economy expanded just 0.8 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier far short of the previous prediction of 2.5 percent. Compared with the previous quarter, the economy contracted 0.5 percent.

"The acute international situation of the past two months" and "serious capital flight" were to blame, Ulyukayev told parliament.

Russian markets have been rattled by the tensions with neighboring Ukraine, where Russia annexed the Black Sea region of Crimea last month. The main stock index tanked 10 percent in March, wiping out billions in market capitalization. In the first three months of 2014, the ruble lost 9 percent against the dollar, making imports more expensive, while spooked investors pulled about $70 billion out of the country more than in all of 2013.

Summary

• The hastily expanded Ukrainian military presence in the east, billed by Kiev as an "anti-terrorist operation," produced multiple standoffs with locals and opposition forces, but there have been no reports of casualties or of shots fired Wednesday.

• In multiple cases, Ukrainian troops appear to have surrendered to unarmed locals. “What were we supposed to do? Shoot peaceful protestors?” one soldier told the Guardian.

•Pro-Russian militia members seized Ukrainian combat vehicles and detained Ukrainian troops Wednesday, parading the vehicles through the eastern city of Samyansk, with some flying Russian flags.

• Dozens of Ukrainian troops were later loaded onto buses in Samyansk for a return trip to their base, reportedly in Dnepropetrovsk. Russian media reported that some of the troops defected to the pro-Russian side, but that could not be confirmed.

•A confrontation was ongoing between Ukrainian military members on personnel carriers and a crowd of locals south of Kramatorsk, in Pchyolkino.

• Armed militia members took over a city council building in the city of Donetsk and leaders of the so-calle "People's Donetsk Republic" held a news conference. Donetsk was also the scene Wednesday of an emergency meeting of the Party of Regions to support Ukrainian unity.

• Acting Ukrainian prime minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk accused Russia of orchestrating the unrest. "Russia has got a new export now, apart from oil and gas: Russia is now exporting terrorism to Ukraine," Yatsenyuk was quoted as telling a cabinet meeting.

• All sides prepared for a major four-way meeting Thursday in Geneva to seek an end to the crisis. The meeting is to include envoys from Ukraine, Russia, the EU and the US.

• Nato on Wednesday announced "further military measures to enhance our collective defense," including more surveillance sorties over the Baltic region and the deployment of ships "to the Baltic sea, the eastern Mediterranean and elsewhere."

"Russia has got a new export now, apart from oil and gas: Russia is now exporting terrorism to Ukraine," Yatsenyuk told a Cabinet meeting. "Russia must withdraw its sabotage groups, condemn terrorists and liberate all administrative buildings."

At least one other confrontation was playing out Wednesday between Ukrainian troops on personnel carriers and crowds of locals, apart from the confrontation that resulted in military vehicles being seized by pro-Russian forces and driven into Slavyansk.

Later Wednesday, several hundred residents surrounded 14 Ukrainian armored vehicles at the train station in Pchyolkino, south of Kramatorsk, fearing that the troops were sent to quell them, the Associated Press has reported:

A Ukrainian who introduced himself as a general addressed the crowd, asking them to let the vehicles leave, but residents blocked them in.

Dmytro, a Ukrainian solder who gave only his first name, vowed that he would remain loyal to the Ukrainian state.

"I took an oath to serve Ukraine," Dmytro said. "I will not betray my oath."

The writer Leonid Ragozin has pictures from the Pchyolkino standoff, which appeared to be ongoing. BuzzFeed reports:

Protesters at Pcholkino are trying to disarm the stuck convoy of APCs to allow them to return to base. But the process is a sloppy mess

Video uploaded by a Ukrainian media group to YouTube appeared to show a confrontation near Kramatorsk – it was unclear whether the convoy in question was the same as that confronted at the Pchyolkino train station – between a crowd of locals (heard but not seen) and Ukrainian troops aboard armoured carriers. One of the troops threatened to detonate a grenade unless the crowd withdrew and let the vehicles pass, which they did, at least temporarily.

Pro-Russian militia members in Slavyansk are obligingly taking part in souvenir photo sessions with appreciative locals (note: not all the locals are appreciative). One example via ABC News below. Other examples here and here.

The Guardian's Alec Luhn (@ASLuhn), in Slavyansk, describes the departure of Ukrainian troops by bus, after their capture by pro-Russian forces. "After spending several hours in Slavyansk city hall, which has been occupied by pro-Russian militia, at about 40 to 50 Ukrainian paratroopers marched out of the building and loaded up into two buses," Alec writes:

They said they were heading to the neighbouring region of Dnipropetrovsk, which is where their 25th regiment is based. Their six armoured personnel carriers stayed behind.

The troops carried rucksacks and many of them kept their weapons, but they looked defeated.

“What were we supposed to do? Shoot peaceful protestors?” one soldier told the Guardian when asked why they had chosen to leave.

He said the soldiers were properly equipped and supplied, denying that they were going hungry.

Some of the Ukrainian troops stayed to join the pro-Russian militia, the soldier said. This was confirmed by a rebel commander, who declined to say how many had stayed. However, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported earlier on Wednesday that 60 Ukrainian troops had gone over to the side of the militia with their armour.

The Ukrainian troops and armour had arrived in the nearby city of Kramatorsk on Wednesday morning, where pro-Russian militia met them. No shots were fired, and the column soon drove to Slavyansk with militia sitting on top, flying a Russian flag and the paratrooper flag.

Also on Wednesday, another column of Ukrainian armour was stopped in its tracks in a village outside Kramatorsk by a crowd of locals who bought the men bread and sausages.

Episodes of Ukrainian troops being stopped in their tracks by locals have played out several times in recent days.

BuzzFeed's Max Seddon captures a picture of the Ukrainians before they left Slavyansk:

German chancellor Angela Merkel told Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone late Tuesday his country holds "the main responsibility" for calming the situation, government spokesman Georg Streiter said. The AP reports:

"The continued strong presence of the Russian military along the Ukrainian border, and the continued inflammatory reporting by Russian state media that are also watched in eastern Ukraine are a destabilizing factor," Streiter told reporters Wednesday.

Both are seen by pro-Russian separatists as a sign that Moscow backs their armed uprising, he claimed.

Meanwhile in Moldova, the breakaway region of Transdniestr has passed a resolution calling on Moscow and the UN to recognise its independence. This from AFP.

Lawmakers in Moldova's pro-Russian breakaway region of Transdniestr on Wednesday passed a resolution calling on Moscow and the UN to recognise its independence.

The resolution adopted unanimously by Transdniestr's self-appointed parliament on Wednesday called on the international community to recognise the region as a "sovereign independent state".

"According to the universally recognised norms of international law, a right of people to self-determination should be the basis of political decisions. Every state should respect this right," said deputy speaker Sergei Cheban.

Transdniestr, a strip of land bordering Ukraine, broke away from Romanian-speaking Moldova following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Some analysts suspect Russia is eyeing the territory, which consists mostly of Russian speakers, in the wake of last month's annexation of Crimea.

CIA Director John Brennan's presence in Ukraine at the weekend has inevitably sparked much speculation. According to the Daily Beast site, he was there to discuss the formation of new, more secure channels for sharing US intelligence with Kiev. Here's an extract:

One of the biggest problems facing the Ukrainians now is that their encrypted military communications channels are widely believed to be penetrated by the Russians. As a result, the crucial communications of Ukraine’s military divisions as they move into eastern Ukraine have been conducted over unencrypted lines, making it nearly impossible for the Ukrainian military to have any element of surprise.

The Ukrainian government is said to be requesting advanced secure communications equipment from the United States, one on a long list of items the US government has not yet agreed to provide.

AFP takes a look at tomorrow's talks in Geneva, the first between the US, the EU, Ukraine and Russia since the crisis began. It's fair to say that little is expected to emerge.

John Kerry, the US secretary of state, will sit down with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, his Ukrainian counterpart, Andriy Deshchytsya, and the chief diplomat of the European Union, Catherine Ashton, for what are likely to be prickly talks. Observers are sceptical about the chances of success.

Washington's priorities include trying to get Russia to demobilise pro-Kremlin militias which have seized control of government buildings in towns and cities in Ukraine's southeast, although Putin has denied Moscow has any links to them.

US state department spokeswoman Jen Psaki has made it clear that the US and the EU are prepared to slap Moscow with tougher sanctions if no headway is made. "Not only do we anticipate additional sanctions at some point, we're preparing additional steps," she said, adding Kerry had spoken Tuesday with his French, German, British and EU counterparts.

Analyst David Marples held out few hopes, "given that the two sides are so far apart."

"Ukraine's attitude is that there are no separatists in eastern Ukraine and that in fact the problems have been started by Russian infiltrators... and that really this constitutes an attack on Ukraine from the outside," Marples, director for Ukraine studies at the University of Alberta, told AFP.

While the interim leaders in Kiev have said they would agree to decentralise some places in the east such as Donetsk, they remain opposed to federalising the country, believing "Russia's got no right to tell a sovereign state what its structure should be."

The UN expert on minority issues who has just been to Ukraine has urged all parties to take immediate steps to ease tensions and step back from further violence. Rita Izsák noted that the situation, although framed by some as an inter-ethnic dispute, has wider political and economic causes, including widespread corruption, that must be taken into account to help avoid further polarisation.

Izsák could not gain access to Crimea. She did, however, interview people who have recently left. Uncertainty, social and political pressure and fear for their security and rights, were mentioned as among the reasons for their decision to leave. She recommended that the UN monitoring mission be allowed to visit Crimea and assess the human rights situation. On the overall situation, the UN special rapporteur said:

It is essential to begin a process of national dialogue with the objective of understanding the concerns and issues of all communities and ensuring that they are addressed appropriately and rapidly. Moderate voices must come to the fore. First and foremost, solutions to the current situation must come from the Ukrainian people.

The Ukrainian government may want to force the separatist armed men out of buildings they have occupied in towns across eastern Ukraine, but their soldiers are very reluctant. “I don’t want to shoot anyone,” one said to me. “Actually I was against this mission.”

A bit of context on the latest Nato response. It has already suspended most cooperation and talks with Russia. The US has sent fighter planes to Poland and the Baltics, enabling Nato to reinforce air patrols on its eastern border. The alliance also performs daily Awacs surveillance flights over Poland and Romania.

The Open Europe thinktank has a useful briefing on possible further sanctions the EU, which it notes is deeply divided, could take against Russia. They range from targeting sectors such as technology and medical goods or even individual firms. Another option is to limit Russian firms or Russian government access to EU and US financial markets.

A bit more from that Fogh Rasmussen press conference. It will be interesting to see how Russia will react to what it will probably see as provocation. Part of the reason Putin moved against Crimea was his belief that Nato wanted Ukraine might joint the alliance.

Our decisions today are about defence, deterrence and de-escalation. They are entirely in line with our international commitments. They send a clear message: Nato will protect every ally and defend against any threat against our fundamental security.

Nato is taking immediate steps to reinforce its presence in eastern Europe because of the Ukraine crisis. Speaking in Brussels after a meeting of Nato ambassadors, Nato secretary-general Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters:

Today, we agreed on a package of further military measures to reinforce our collective defence and demonstrate the strength of allied solidarity. We will have more planes in the air, more ships on the water, and more readiness on the land. For example, air policing aircraft will fly more sorties over the Baltic region. Allied ships will deploy to the Baltic sea, the eastern Mediterranean and elsewhere, as required. Military staff from allied nations will deploy to enhance our preparedness, training and exercises. Our defence plans will be reviewed and reinforced.

The Russian economy could take a hit if the Ukraine crisis worsens, reports AFP.

Russia's economy minister, Alexei Ulyukayev, did not specifically mention Ukraine but admitted that the Russian economy was now being hit by increased market uncertainty and capital flight because of the "international situation".

He said: "The economic situation has become even more strained and internal factors have been exacerbated by a high level of uncertainty on currency and financial markets, serious capital flight, an unreadiness by investors to take decisions in this acute international situation which has taken shape in the last two months."

Finance minister Anton Siluanov had said on Tuesday that Russia risked posting zero growth this year and warned that Russia's economy faced "the most difficult conditions since the 2008 crisis," when it went into deep recession.

It looks like the Ukranian attempt to reassert control in Slavyansk has gone awry, with some troops going over to the pro-Russian side. This from Reuters.

At least three armoured personal carriers that were driven in to the eastern Ukrainian city of Slavyansk had been under the control of Ukrainian armed forces earlier on Wednesday, Reuters photographers said.

A soldier manning one of the troop carriers now under the control of pro-Russian separatists identified himself to Reuters as being a member of Ukraine's 25th paratrooper division from Dnipropetrovsk.

He said: "All the soldiers and the officers are here. We are all boys who won't shoot our own people."

The Guardian's Philip Oltermann in Berlin adds this wrinkle to the Ukraine crisis.

The former Nazi concentration camp of Dachau will be the location for a tense diplomatic encounter on 2 May, when both the Russian and the Ukrainian ambassadors to Germany will attend an event to commemorate the circa 4,000 Soviet prisons of war who died in the camp.

A spokesperson for the memorial site said the invitations to ambassador Vladimir Grinin of Russia and ambassador Pavlo Klimkin of Ukraine had gone out some time before the dramatic decline in relations between the two countries, but that both representatives had recently confirmed their attendance.

Agence France-Presse, the French news agency, reports on claims from Ukraine's security service that Russian commanders have issued pro-Kremlin militants with "shoot-to-kill orders".

Ukraine's security service said on Wednesday it had intercepted communications showing that Russian commanders in the separatist east had issued pro-Kremlin militants with "shoot-to-kill" orders.

The intercepted communications "show that sabotage operations in the east of Ukraine are being openly led by regular officers from the Russian military intelligence, who have issued cynical shoot-to-kill orders against Ukrainian soldiers," the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) said in a statement.

Kiev television later played what it said was an intercepted conversation between two Russian commanders in eastern Ukraine ho appeared to be discussing ways to ensure that separatist gunmen open fire against federal soldiers if they are attacked.

Alec Luhn, who is in Slavyansk, has been talking to pro-Russian militia men.

The pro-Russian militia men who drove the armoured troop carriers into town refused to say where they had got them.

"From space," one said. "They came on their own," another said. Locals gathered as the militia men parked near city hall. A pair of women recognised one man and hugged him, suggesting that at least some of them were local. The new "people's mayor", Vyacheslav Ponomaryov, arrived and greeted the men, then led a group of them off the square toward other occupied buildings.

But not all the locals who had gathered seemed happy. One man who identified himself only as Valery angrily asked the militia men enforcing a wide perimeter around the armoured vehicles what they they were doing.

"Part of the population supports them," he said. "But people who work, like me, I'm an entrepreneur, they don't want this." He said he didn't support calls for a referendum and wanted to vote in the presidential elections planned for 25 May, which many here say they will boycott.

"People think everything in Russia is spread with honey," Valery said. After his statements drew angry exclamations and arguments from men standing nearby, Valery's wife pulled him away and they left.

Six armoured personnel carriers entered the eastern Ukrainian town of Slaviansk, on Wednesday with the lead vehicle bearing the Russian flag, a Reuters eyewitness said. Several armed men, who wore mismatched battle fatigues and appeared to be pro-Russian activists, sat atop each of the vehicles. The vehicles stopped outside the town's city hall which is occupied by separatists.

The Guardian's Luke Harding, who is in Kramatorsk, reports that pro-Russian armed separatists have seized five armoured personal carriers and a tank from the Ukrainian army, which they then drove in a victory lap through the centre of town, where government forces are attempting to wrest back control of the city.

About 100 heavily armed men, some in balaclavas and wearing military fatigues, rode on top of the seized armoured vehicles, the first of which was flying a Russian tricolor. Several hundred locals gathered around the convoy, cheering, tooting their car horns and waving in support as it rolled passed the Kramatorsk's railway station, not far from the airfield where Ukrainian soldiers clashed with separatists on Tuesday.

Adam Swain on the Conversation website, provides some useful analysis on the local dynamics. Writing from Donetsk in the east, Swain argues that the region's fate lies in the hands of local oligarchs.

The balance of political and economic forces there is simply too complex and too confusing for a rapid resolution of the region’s status; instead, it will be played out over the coming months in finely balanced judgements by key actors all trying to safeguard their interests... The local political elite do not seem to have an agreed position on what the Donbas-Kiev relationship should be; nor can they agree how bold their demands for regional autonomy should be. The pro-Russian movement makes it difficult for the local elite to articulate the case for autonomy within Ukraine without playing into the hands of Russia and the local separatist minority.

Ukrainian government forces launched their first significant military action in the east of the country yesterday, clashing with about 30 pro-Russian gunmen at a provincial airfield and heightening fears that the standoff could escalate into a major armed conflict.

Shots were fired in Kramatorsk airport as Ukrainian special forces stormed in to reassert Kiev's control. As troop helicopters hovered above and tempers flared, a Ukrainian general was set upon by a group of local people incensed that two protesters had been injured, knocking off his military-issue fur hat.

As tensions rise, Sergey Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, says Russia is still planning to meet Ukrainian officials at an international conference in Geneva tomorrow. Speaking during a visit to Hanoi, Vietnam, Lavrov said the Geneva talks "remain on the agenda." Russia has repeatedly threatened to disrupt the talks if the Ukrainian government uses military force against pro-Russian militants in the east of the country.